Clippers Notes: Aspiration Investigation, Mathurin, Jackson

Earlier in the season, there was a sense around the NBA that the investigation into allegations that the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard used a no-show endorsement deal with fintech company Aspiration to circumvent the salary cap wouldn’t lead to a serious punishment for the team, says Sam Amick of The Athletic.

However, according to Amick, that thinking has evolved in recent months. During the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, Amick writes, there was a “significant” uptick in speculation that “the NBA’s hammer is likely to fall” on the Clippers upon the conclusion of the probe.

Many people across the league theorized that the NBA would wait until sometime after the All-Star break to announce the results of the investigation, so as not to distract from the mid-season festivities at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome. Commissioner Adam Silver insisted over the weekend that wasn’t a consideration and reiterated that the probe isn’t being directly run by the NBA — the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was hired by the league to conduct the investigation.

“I think, as I’ve said before, it’s enormously complex,” Silver said over the weekend. “You have a company in bankruptcy (Aspiration). You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed. I will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star is here (in L.A.) has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is (to) do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that’s where things now stand.”

Here’s more on the Clippers:

• In his home debut as a Clipper, recently acquired guard Bennedict Mathurin set a new personal season high and matched a career best by pouring in 38 points in 34 minutes, writes Doug Padilla of The Associated Press. Coming off the bench, Mathurin made 12-of-22 shots from the floor and 12-of-13 from the free throw line to help lead the club to a one-point win over Denver. “It’s great to have another scorer that can get you 30 points,” Leonard said after the game (Twitter video link via Law Murray of The Athletic). “I watched him in the (2025 NBA) Finals. He was doing it in the Finals last year, all year last year for the Pacers. It’s great to have him.”
• Before the Clippers’ second-half schedule got underway on Thursday, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register (subscription required) explored how the team was working on integrating trade deadline additions Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and injured point guard Darius Garland. “Everybody is pretty familiar with my game, so it kind of helps a lot,” said Mathurin, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason. “I think that there’s still a lot more to do, still a lot more to learn with the system, offensive, defensive and especially off the court as well. … I just feel like I kind of get the chance to do it even more over here (with the Clippers). I think it is going to go to a different level.”
• Jackson has played a very limited role since joining the Clippers, but he says he’s working on getting acclimated and wants to do all he can to “help the team win,” per Carr. Head coach Tyronn Lue suggested the former Pacer will keep getting opportunities to battle rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser for minutes behind starting center Brook Lopez. “Right now, I’m just thinking, just talking to our staff, about just playing three bigs,” Lue said. “We can’t continue to play Brook 34, 35 minutes a night, even though he says he’s OK. So, just given three centers, it’s a chance to play them all and then whoever’s playing the best will probably play in the second half. We’ll see how it goes.”
• In case you missed it, the Clippers are filling their open two-way contract slots by signing G League standouts Sean Pedulla and Norchad Omier.